Bone Grafting & Socket Preservation

The bone that comprises the upper and lower jaws is constantly changing shape.  This is especially true when teeth are lost.  Whether a tooth is lost by trauma or routine extraction, the surrounding bone remodels during the healing process.  Some studies estimate that 50% of the original supporting bone is lost in the first 5 years after a tooth is lost.  With bone loss and remodeling, significant aesthetic changes can occur; often making restoration of the bite and smile very difficult.  That is why we have developed ways to preserve and grow bone around the sockets of missing teeth.

The best way to preserve the existing boney architecture after extractions is by performing a “socket preservation graft”.  This is an easy procedure in which Dr. Konys thoroughly cleans the extraction socket and then places a putty-like mixture of sterilized bone in the void.  The graft acts like scaffolding for your own bone-producing cells to use.  In addition, the graft has a special chemical that increases the number of bone-producing cells to the area.  The end result is the formation of good solid bone in about 4-6 months.  In addition, we usually see much less remodeling.

Sometime we are able to “grow” bone where there isn’t any.  This helps in areas where the teeth have been lost for a long period of time.  In areas that require the correction of a large defect, a combination of sterilized, freeze-dried bone and your own natural bone is mixed together to fill the void.  Healing for this type of graft usually requires 6-8 months to firm up.

A note about bone graft materials:

Many people wonder where we get the bone that is used for grafting procedures.  Sometimes we can “sneak” some bone from other sites in your mouth to get the desired result.  However, in most instances, we use bone from a bone bank.  In our office, we only use bone from one of the few “certified” banks in the country.  It has be screened and sterilized so that it is free of all potential diseases.